Ke Aupuni o Hawai‘i and Ko Hawai‘i Pae ‘Aina — names attached to a land riddled with violence and injustice over the course of its rocky relationship with the United States. With a completely changed political and social environment from our time as a kingdom, Native Hawaiians, along with many other indigenous cultures across the world, face the risk of losing their own culture and people in a system that continues to belittle their struggles.
It is vital that as Hawaii and the rest of the world move toward the future, governments and laws continue to protect the cultural integrity of natives through the preservation of our history.
It is well known that Hawaii is a melting pot of cultures, often ranked as the most ethnically and culturally diverse state in the nation. Native Hawaiians make up more than 310,000 people in Hawaii’s population, but constitute more than 51% of the state’s houseless.
Why is this?
The displacement of kanaka maoli from their ancestral homelands dates back to Hawaii’s long history of occupation by Western investors and companies. The success of the plantation industry during the days of Hawaii’s occupation brought about “shady” land deals that resulted in Native Hawaiians being thrown out of their lands. This problem persists today, with tourism taking the place of plantations, continuing to dwindle Hawaii’s resources and land available for natives.
Furthermore, the cost of living in Hawaii continues to grow to one of the highest rates in the country. With the current economic state of Native Hawaiians, many are being “priced out,” being forced to seek more affordable housing on the mainland or facing the risk of homelessness. Most notably, this has been happening on the island of Maui, where recent fires in Lahaina have only deepened Maui residents’ worries of having their lands stripped away by predatory outsiders.
While there are state programs to help get the houseless population into shelters and into affordable housing, it isn’t enough. There isn’t a central system for getting people into these shelters, there aren’t enough beds in shelters, and shelters have high turnover rates of staff. These challenges make it even harder for Native Hawaiians, the largest houseless demographic, to secure reliable shelter.
The U.S. government issued an apology for the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy 100 years after the fact in 1993, and promised reparations in the form of land set aside specifically for Native Hawaiians. However, these “promised lands” can only house a few thousand kanaka, while the waitlist itself for these homesteads nearly triples that number. Additionally, the smallest allocation of land set aside for these homes is on Oahu — the island with the greatest number of houseless Hawaiians.
An “apology” from 1993 does not even begin to cover the pain and suffering endured by Native Hawaiians as we witnessed our populations dwindle, our land taken away and our people forced to leave Hawaii. Homesteads don’t even begin to lessen this pain.
What the government must prioritize is building a sense of trust between itself and kanaka maoli. We must ask leaders to ask themselves: Why did the American government need to make this apology and promise 30 years ago in the first place? Was it simply because we, the Native Hawaiian people, wanted more land? Or did the government, three decades ago, suddenly realize the tragic effects the overthrow and occupation have had on the kanaka maoli population and desperately tried, and only tried, to right a devastating wrong?
Ultimately, we need to see that our leaders know our past and that although this pain can’t be forgotten, it can be diminished through the continued teaching of Hawaii’s marked history.
———
Jason Cheers is a student at Kamehameha Schools, Class of 2024.
“Raise Your Hand,” a monthly column featuring Hawaii’s youth and their perspectives, appears in the Insight section on the first Sunday of each month. It is facilitated by the Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders.
———
CTLhawaii.org
